I love a good illogical school rule!

[TheNightingalesStarling]

The email has come out. They don't need to wear blazers today due to weather.. on buses, in corridors, in lessons etc

However... they must carry it at all times. No leaving it home or in their lockers!

I know it doubles as a pencil case for many of them but would the world implode if they safely left them at home?

If teachers were forced to wear a formal jacket in a heatwave then their unions would be up in arms, especially if the inappropriate clothing caused a teacher to faint and sustain an injury.

DS managed to complete the school year in 2020 in his pyjamas without it affecting his school work.

One school in Bristol appeared on our regional news programme last week because they have brought in more flexible clothing in a drive to promote greater activity amongst the pupils. Typically they wear leggings or joggers and a loose fitting top.

My school (private sector) had some silly requirements . Tights had to be American tan coloured (known as baked bean coloured by us pupils); hair ribbons were to be black; dates that everyone had to be in summer uniform was dictated by the head; day pupils had a black hat, which only got worn once a year; additionally boarders had a traditional uniform which was worn on important occasions.

Yo-yo childhood mostly between Spain and UK. Different uniform every time in the UK because there seemed to be some no going back to the same area rule my parents lived by. The uniform game was something I quite enjoyed as it made little sense and was a 'just because' hoop to jump through.

Blazer? It wins on being a distributed handbag.

I remember being told off for taking mine off during a lesson. I was just focused on the work and slipped out of it. Was given hell. 'WHAT do you think you are doing?' - but I wasn't thinking just taking it off and didn't realise I was being yelled at for the blazer, but something else. I managed to form a bond of mutual resentment and loathing with that teacher and became a turned off otherwise good kid in her class.

There was the Head who decided that bags on backs were dangerous so we had to walk around with them on our fronts. That got quietly dropped.

The school with the pleated mid-length plus tartan skirt. It was heavy and you were dealing with pleats. The rumour was that the length and thickness was to stop girls rolling them up. It didn't stop some, but that was at the cost of a tire.

Shoes? I never understood that bit. I recall a Saturday 'getting the right shoes'.

Oh yes the girls with school shoes from R&B and dressmaker dresses. Our colour was grey, right down to regulation knickers.

The scholarship/direct grant girls stood out a mile with our cheaper shoes, home made Summer dresses and home knitted jumpers.

We wore black in the 6th form which was then considered quite cool and the controls were somewhat relaxed (as in we could buy cardigans from Top Shop or similar so long as they were fairly conservative).

I could not stand some of the rules in my now grown young adult sons school ... absolutely ridiculous.
The blazer one or having to keep a jumper on in high heat ... I'd tell them not to listen !!

But the children wearing old and ratty clothes will still be wearing old and ratty school uniform - probably rather more so as it tends to be so expensive. If they choose to wear expensive clothes, so be it, their parents will regret it soon enough when something gets spilt on that designer top.

I'd absolutely love to be a fly on the wall in the social services office the day they get a formal referral because a girl is wearing a white bra in school.

To repeat a well-used phrase, you're not the thread police. There is no reason whatsoever why OP shouldn't publicise an idiotic rule. It really is time schools got called out on this sort of stupidity, which is only encouraged by sheep parents who want everyone to follow every rule, no matter how daft or unlawful it may be.

MN, on the other hand, should enforce a rule that anyone using "hun" gets an instant ban.

Why do they need to be identified with the school when they're walking around the school grounds? How do you imagine all the other schools that don't insist on this stupidity manage to identify their pupils?

Without being alarmist, it's probably a good idea to have something in place in school to enable quick identification of people who should not be there.

If I need to explain more, it would be a shame.

Yet all those schools without uniforms or silly rules seem to manage somehow.

Girl Guiding (leader) uniform really needs a quick-drying activewear t-shirt option. Trying to dry heavy, wet cotton polo shirts on camp is the definition of futility!

I loved teaching in a non-uniform school. Zero teaching time lost over quibbling over trivial aspects of uniform. The guidelines were pretty mainstream, nothing offensive, cover essential anatomy and the outcome was pupils mainly wearing joggers/ leggings, t-shirts/ vest tops and hoodies. Everyone was comfortable and that meant we could all get on with teaching and learning.

I'm not against uniform, but it should be practical. My DC's primary had a sensible generic range of items which worked well. It's a shame that every secondary within 10 miles is a near identical combination of blazers and ties.

I went to a blazer and tie school. Being a nice child, I mostly got away with flouting blazer rules. Mine lived screwed up in my bag for performative reasons and never spent more than 5 minutes on my back. I seem to have disproportionate shoulders to my upper body because they have always felt restrictively tight, and very difficult to write in. I quickly realised that I hated teaching in jackets too.

At least my DC's school allows generic blazers and hasn't gone down the specialist provider route. This means I can get a better cut of blazer rather than them ridiculously drowning in something cut like a 1980s box.

Shoes are a common area of stupidity. Let them wear hard wearing, practical black shoes, and stop nitpicking over the blurry distinction between a flat black lace-up and a trainer.
Fortunately DC's school isn't obsessive in this department.

My school (males only) uniform was a trifle odd. All dark blue wool, crested (excellent design, I'll say that) blazers, shorts, open-necked shirt (cotton twill) over blazer collar, long socks (aka stockings) and black formal shoes. All year round until one left after 6th form. Shirtsleeve order in summer - no blazer, shirt cuffs undone and sleeves rolled up forearm. Quite striking in its way, but peculiar. We hated it but I suspect we would have hated anything although I suspect we would have defended its eccentricity to outsiders.

I suspect there would in fact be an improvement in exam results, because teachers would be spending more time on teaching rather than enforcing pointless rules, and pupils would feel comfortable. You tend not to learn when you are distracted by how hot and uncomfortable you are.

Photo card lanyards seem to do that job perfectly well at my DC's school and bonus, it serves as a House marker and means they have their card for payments in the canteen.

I would definitely rather than my children were comfortable and able to learn that they looked smart. That is, after all, ,what they are in school for.

It's not as if most of these uniforms are smart, anyway. As people have pointed out, nasty polyester blazers soon get out of shape and look dirty and tatty with baggy pockets, and are regularly worn with too-short trousers and shirts pulling out of their trousers or skirts, plus falling-apart shoes. A hard-wearing pair of jeans and a T shirt can be much smarter.

I was think more of a way of seeing if someone with a weapon had jumped a fence and was moving through the playground.

still, you ask to see their lanyard. I'm sure it will all be fine.

We've heard that in the UK the vast majority of schools have simply told their pupils not to wear blazers and they aren't being made to carry them around. A fairly hefty proportion don't have blazers as part of their uniform. Lots of schools have no uniform at all. How do you imagine they are all coping with the need to identify pupils?

Plus, of course, if an intruder really felt the need to merge in, it would be child's play to pick up one of the inevitably-dropped or lost blazers and start carrying it around.

If someone with a weapon comes into school, making everyone carry a blazer would give them a heaven-sent means of hiding that weapon.

Indeed. It's not a magic wand.

However it's just one aspect that seems to have evaded scrutiny thus far. And I - for one - am a little fed up with wails of "who could have ever though it ?" after some terrible incident where it turns out everybody thought it, but it got dismissed.

And - to pull this thread back from capsizing - using specific brand shoes and cloths for ID seems to be perfect as most headteachers can spot non-compliant brands from space.

Our local secondary school brought in a rule that, when they were outside, the children had to wear full uniform in the Autumn and Spring terms - shirt, tie, jumper, blazer (to be 'smart' apparently). Then there was a late heat wave in September and we'd see hoards of red faced boiling children tramping home and looking extremely uncomfortable.

I've worked in schools and they are like micro countries with their own individual cultures.

I wish heads who come up with idiot policies like this would put their heads above the parapet and explain their rationale publicly. It speaks volumes that none of them are prepared to do it.

I think head teachers need to keep up. Post covid, hardly anyone wears a formal collar and tie.

They are only following the guidelines.....

Sometimes its not the school that makes illogical choices!

Woke DD up this morning and told her that she doesnt need her tie or blazer, they can be left at home due to the weather.

DD came down with her tie on, told her she didnt have to wear it, she stared at me blankly followed by an "oh", goes to leave, she picks her blazer up, told her again she didnt need it, she stares at me blankly again and followed by an "oh" then tries to leave with it. I wrested it out of her hands saying " its too hot to wear, why do you want to take it to carry it round all day", she stares at me again then lets go of the blazer then leave for school wearing her tie.

I dont get it either!